A tiger family moves into the rehabilitation centre

The new residents, a tigress and her two cubs, examined the area with interest and hunted rabbits that were released into the enclosure.

The cubs, who were not given names yet, have grown up and become stronger over the spring. Specialists at the rehabilitation centre say that young predators are still very cautious and spend much of their time in a thicket. When hunting ungulates, the group is normally led by the adult tigress, but when the prey is not so large the young tigresses would cope on their own.

“A more spacious enclosure will allow us to observe the animals in conditions that are very similar to the wild, so we’ll be able to make faster and comprehensive decisions about if and when they can be released into the wild,” said Dmitry Pankratov, Director of the Department of Hunting Supervision of the Primorye Territory. “During this time the vacant enclosures will undergo a planned inspection and will be renovated, if necessary. Hopefully, specialists will make a decision regarding the future of the mother-tigress before long.”

In early 2018, the tigress started hunting dogs from the village of Alexei-Nikolskoye and was captured in early February. Specialists established that the tigress hunted dogs to feed her cubs, who were also captured on 20 February and 8 March and brought to the rehabilitation centre.

Specialists at the centre believe that if the tigress continues to show motherly care for her cubs and her behaviour does not give rise to concerns, the whole family will be released in the most suitable habitat. If the tigress’ behaviour does raise concerns, she and her cubs will have to be separated. The cubs will be released into the wild following rehabilitation while the tigress will remain in captivity forever.